Now You Can Call Him Professor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet another professional transformation to add to his resume. This time, it’s to think tank-academic life.

The former California governor, actor, and body builder has co-founded a think tank and become a professor at the University of Southern California with the establishment of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, where he will be the Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy. He will also serve as the chairman of its board of advisers.

With an eye toward leadership responsibility and transcending partisanship, the institute will focus on five core research areas: education, energy and environment, fiscal and economic policy, health and human wellness and political reform.

“One of the great lessons I learned as governor of California was that the best solutions to common problems could only be found when each side was willing to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with each other,”Schwarzenegger said. “This institute is dedicated to promoting a new era of post-partisanship, where solutions are the result of intelligent and civil discussion between people with deeply held principles who understand the need to work through their disagreements to achieve real solutions.”

You should probably try reading that to yourself with a German accent.

About Doug MataconisDoug holds a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May, 2010 and also writes at Below The Beltway.
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Only in America can a dude become famous pumping himself up with steroids, become a movie star without any acting skills, use that fame to get elected governor and finally give himself some academic varnish by buying a professorship despite barely mastering either English or his mother-tongue.

Most countries require some academic credentials to get a professorship, some political credentials to get elected to a powerful position, some acting skills to make it in the movies. Pump-it-up is possible elsewhere, but that is where the buck stops.

Yeah, if you’ve never seen Pumping Iron, you’ve missed a treat. You could see in that film that Arnold is a smart guy, and he’s got a really good sense of humor. Two things I recall.

He had come to the states with a friend who was also a body-builder to compete. He said his friend was alway asking his advice during competitions. Arnold, who’s English wasn’t as polished as it is now, said, “And if I always gave him the wrong advices [sic]…”

He said he was once in a competition on the East Coast, and in talking to another contestant, he told the guy that he’d just been competing on the West Coast, and the big thing there was to roar as you made each of your poses. According to Arnold, the guy jumped out roaring through his routine, and the judges through him out of the competition.

This does make a lot of sense for both parties. Arnold is one of the savviest businessmen of the past generation. He was governor of what’s by far the nation’s most populous and most difficult to govern state. USC is a top-20 institution with eyes on the top-15. Really it’s a no brainer. Hopefully the kids who attend that program listen up. In that case they’ll learn something.